A parking lot may have cost Bowers her job as mayor

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Could something as simple as building a parking lot cost an incumbent the highest seat in county government?

With enough money to strongly push the message that a $4 million parking lot is frivolous spending, it could make quite a difference, said Austin Peay political science professor emeritus David Kanervo.

It just might have cost Carolyn Bowers her job as County Mayor.

Jim Durrett beat out Bowers in the county mayor race Thursday with 48.77 percent of the vote, compared to her 39.37 percent.

He also vastly outspent her, which also likely contributed to his success, Kanervo said.

One of Durrett’s strongest messages involved county spending, and he used the $4 million parking lot at Veterans Plaza as a prime example of wasteful county spending in his advertising and in debates.

“I thought the spending issue that seemed to be so important for Jim Durrett’s success would not be so big a factor as it seemed to be,” Kanervo said. “People are talking about the parking lot, and I just didn’t think it would be that big an issue.”

Had Bowers had more campaign money, she might have been able to address that criticism better, he said.

The Veterans Plaza parking lot went over budget to the tune of more than $700,000, according to previous reports, and Durrett capitalized on that in advertisements and mailers.

“Once you get into a project like that (parking lot) and unforeseen problems arise, you can’t just stop,” Kanervo said. “Most county debt is public schools. He made it sound like wasteful spending, such as that parking lot.”

As he watched other county races unfold Thursday, Kanervo noticed that a number of other incumbents narrowly beat out newcomers and several county commissioners lose by large margins.

That may be a sign that many people are dissatisfied with some who have been in office for a long time, he said.

“The election results (Thursday) night tended to show that, while most of the incumbents were reelected, there was a strong undercurrent for change,” he said. “Certainly that played out in the county mayor’s race where Mayor Bowers lost to Jim Durrett.”

That undercurrent was also obvious in other close races, such as the trustee and district attorney races, he said.

In the trustee race, established incumbent Brenda Radford narrowly defeated challenger Brandi Bryant. Radford got 52.5 percent of the vote compared to Bryant’s 47.5 percent. In that case too, Radford spent far more on her campaign.

In Montgomery County, challenger Joel Wallace beat out incumbent district attorney John Carney Jr., but voters in Robertson County put Carney over the top. Barely.

Kanervo said Wallace’s strong showing shows that many voters are looking for fresh faces.

“Joel Wallace is a young face in Clarksville and has been well known as a city councilperson,” he said. “I suspect he stands to be successful as a city councilman or in another position in the future.”

Incumbent Circuit Judge John H. Gasaway III also barely retained his seat, with challenger Ben Dean receiving the most votes in Robertson County and Danny Brollier giving him a close race in Montgomery County. In the end, fewer than 500 votes separated Gasaway from Dean and just over 1,300 votes separated him from Brollier.

Kanervo said it would be tough to guess who might have won if Gasaway had faced only one opponent.

“It would have been a particularly close race if Dean had not been it,” he said.

Kanervo thinks many voters were looking for someone new in that seat because of Gasaway’s long tenure and the publicity his wife received in her law practice.

“Gasaway, probably because of his incumbency, was able to squeak through,” Kanervo said.

Several county commissioners lost seats, one to another incumbent and some to newcomers.

Brandon Butts beat incumbent Robert Lewis for District 7, Arnold Hodges beat incumbent Dalton Harrison in District 6, Incumbent Robert Nicols defeated another incumbent Nick Robards for District 12 and Wallace Redd beat out long-time incumbent Loretta Bryant for District16.

Kanervo said it will be interesting to see how the new county commission and new county mayor work together.

Redd also serves on the Clarksville City Council and plans to sit on the county commission at the same time. This is the first time in at least recent history that has happened.

Kanervo said that while money certainly helped in some elections, the power of being an incumbent can make up that difference.

“Money is not always the determining factor,” he said. “It is generally true that the person who spends the most wins. Although it’s also true that incumbency has a certain value as well and can be a substitute for money.

“What we don’t know, for example is, if Carolyn (Bowers) had more money, would she have been able to respond more visibly to criticisms made by Mr. Durrett,” he said. “I was a little surprised by the county mayor’s race. I thought it would be closer.”